Tag: cricket

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Cricket World Cup 1999(England): Lance Klusener – A force to reckon for the Proteas

Until world cup 1999 in England, no player in cricketing history had taken their home team to penultimate stage of the tournament single handedly.

And then there was Lance Klusener.

A sensation in 1999 world cup, here was a player who could bat, bowl and field plus win matches for his team.

He could wield a cricket bat like a baseball bat, he bowled with a jumping action which would strike the batsmen straight plumb in front of the wicket. His fielding standards were on par with his other skills.

It was a treat to watch his left handed stance in front of the wicket. Bowling swinging deliveries at medium pace he brought a gust on cricketing field.

Klusener can be attributed as one of the best all-rounder for south african ODI cricket team.

His style of play brought a new sensation in one day international(ODI) cricket. A revelation for cricketing pitches and to world cricket much alike.

I had the privilege to watch him live in action when India played South Africa at M Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru in 2000. He would hit sixes with such ease that the newly installed electronic scoreboard at that time had to bear the brunt.

Thank you Klusener and host nation England for some wonderful memories of 1999 cricket world cup.

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India – Winners Under 19 Cricket World Cup : “The Wall” with twigs

ICC U19 World Cup 2018 is special for India because the performance of this team has been clinical and simply outstanding.  Look at the track record starting from match 1 that India played in this tournament.

Group Matches

India won by 100 runs vs Australia

India won by 10 wickets vs Papua New Guinea

India won by 10 wickets vs Zimbabwe

Super League quarter-finals

India won by 131 runs vs Bangladesh

Super League semi-finals

India won by 203 runs vs Pakistan

Final

India won by 8 wickets vs Australia

The margin and the rate at which these boys have won matches has been phenomenal.

One man behind this stupendous show is ‘The Wall – Rahul Dravid’. Not to forget the contribution of other coaches and support staff involved with this team. Dravid, would definitely be a happy coach after winning the cup which his boys(different team) had lost a couple of years ago in the final.

This is India’s 4th title overall and 1st on New Zealand soil at under 19 level.

Things that this lads would have definitely learnt from Rahul Dravid:

i) To score runs patiently.

ii) To put a price on their wicket.

iii) To care for every single run.

Prithivi Shaw, Shubman Gill, Manjot Kalra, Anukul Roy have been the pick of this tournament.

Rahul Dravid comes from the old school of thought in going through the grind to master skills. This can be seen even today when he instructed the young boys to stay away from mobile phones till finals and concentrate on the tournament instead of IPL auctions.

Well, I remember reading in local newspaper that Dravid owns a plot in HSR Layout, wish he builds a home here so that I can meet him sometime in the future and brag he lives in my neighborhood.

Harsha Bhogle had once called Dravid as “the Wolf who lived for the pack”, well the wolf has grown now to guide the whelps.

Congratutions to U19 Indian cricket team and the coaches, including Rahul Dravid.